Top-Seeded Mavericks Complete Round of Four, Take Down Ladyjacks

 

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – UT Arlington had three players sweep their singles and doubles matches as the No. 1 Mavericks eliminated No. 8 Stephen F. Austin, 4-1, from the 2009 Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Championship on Friday at the HEB Tennis Center.

 

UT Arlington advances to a semifinal matchup against No. 4 Northwestern State at noon on Saturday. With the win, the Mavericks extended their league record against Southland foes to 12-0 after finishing the regular season as the undefeated champions.

 

None of Southland Coach of the Year Diego Benitez’s three doubles teams was pushed to the brink, with all of the Mavericks’ tandems winning by at least two breaks.

 

Stephen F. Austin went down by a score of 3-0 after three matches, but Roxana Enica dazzled in the No. 2 singles matchup. She defeated Diana Negreanu 6-1, 6-1 to cut the deficit to 3-1, but UT Arlington’s Klara Jagosova defeated Gabriela Gadeva at No. 3 6-2, 6-2 to thwart any Ladyjacks rally.

 

Jagosova was the final Maverick to pull off wins in two matches. Nicola Matovivoa dominated the No. 6 singles matchup 6-0, 6-0 and teamed up with Katarina Mlcochova to win the No. 3 doubles match. Maria Martinez-Romer also pulled off the double, dropping only three games in the No. 5 position after teaming up with Nicola Matovivoa to win the No. 2 doubles match.

 

Mlcochova’s and Matovivoa’s singles matches went unfinished.

 

 

Match Four Results

No. 1 UT Arlington 4, No. 8 Stephen F. Austin

Apr 24, 2009, at Corpus Christi, Texas

 

Singles competition:

1. Monika Hadvigerova (UTA-W) vs. Alina Shazkho (SFA-W) 6-4, 4-5, unfinished

2. Roxana Enica (SFA-W) def. Daiana Negreanu (UTA-W) 6-1, 6-1

3. Klara Jagosova (UTA-W) def. Gabriela Gadeva (SFA-W) 6-2, 6-2

4. Katarina Micochova (UTA-W) vs. Sanjana Kapur (SFA-W) 6-3, 3-4, unfinished

5. Maria Martinez-Romer (UTA-W) def. Tatiana Smolnikova (SFA-W) 6-3, 6-0

6. Nicola Matovivoa (UTA-W) def. Jamie Williams (SFA-W) 6-0, 6-0

 

Doubles competition:

1. Klara Jagosova/Daiana Negreanu (UTA-W) def. Alina Shazkho/Roxana Enica (SFA-W) 8-3

2. Maria Martinez-Romer/Nicola Matovivoa (UTA-W) def. Tatiana Smolnikova/Gabriela Gadeva (SFA-W) 8-3

3. Monika Hadvigerova/Katarina Micochova (UTA-W) def. Jamie Williams/Mary Harrison (SFA-W) 8-1

 

Match Notes:

Order of finish: Doubles (,2); Singles (6,5,2,3)

T-3:45

 

 

Post-match Quotes

UT Arlington Head Coach – Diego Benitez

 

"It was a nice test for us today, with the wind and conditions.  We waited for a little while to play the match so it was good for the girls to get that first win."

 

"They came out of the gate pretty good, swinging hard and taking the doubles point. Just happy with the way they handled the conditions and they played well. Looking forward to tomorrow.

 

"We are going to make sure the girls get a lot of liquids tonight and make sure they get some rest."

 

UT Arlington Player -- Junior Klara Jagosova

 

"We did pretty good. We are the favorites so we are expected to win, but it is not

always easy when you are supposed to win.  Especially with the conditions when we

are not used to the wind, we just tried to stay focused and stay together."

 

"We still have enough time to recover so it should not affect us more than anyone

else because we are all used to playing tournaments.  The first matches are always

the toughest and we will just take it point by point like today and we believe we

have a good chance to win."

 

 

Stephen F. Austin Head Coach – Brett Arrant

 

"I thought we did real well after the long delay. We still stepped out on the court

and played hard, giving 110%.  We were hoping to be a higher seed so we wouldn't

have to play SFA, but we took the draw we had and gave our best.  I'm proud of all

the girls"

 

Stephen F. Austin Player – Junior Roxana Enica

 

“It was a long day and I was waiting to play this match all day but I am glad my team

got here.  Hopefully next year we will have a better chance but it has been

awesome."